72 Skylark Pro Touring Questions

Hello! I am new to the forum and loving every minute of it!! But need some help! i have a 72 skylark 350 4bbl i recently purchased. Extremely clean car with only 83,000 original miles. My plan is the take this car into the pro touring direction. Im installing a CPP Stage 4 pro touring kit in the upcoming weeks. Im starting this thread because im having trouble deciding what tire and rim sizes i should go. I like the American Racing VNCL Classic Torq Thrust 2 in mag grey. I need at least a 17 inch wheel to clear the 13inch rotors in the front and 12's in the back. For tires I like the Michelin Super sports as well as the GoodYear Eagle F1's. Im looking to get the best possible performance i can BUT i also really want that mean staggered look. What are your thoughts? Also what offset/backspacing will i need?

Also, For my rear end i know i have a 10 bolt 8 1/2 28 spline peg leg. What should i do to improve its performance and get rid of that peg leg? New third member and axles? any suggestions?

For tires I like the Michelin Super sports as well as the GoodYear Eagle F1's.
Thanks

Click to expand...

Many a GT500 Shelby has been wrecked using those factory installed FI hockey pucks Goodyear calls tires. I ditched those F1s on my spouses 14 Shelby at about 600 miles before they caused a serious accident and installed Michelin PSS tires. There was an amazing improvement. Do a search and see how may opinions think the F1s are a good track tire for road courses when warmed up, but do not put them on the public roads when the temps are down. They also have poor traction from a dead stop. Some F1s have cracked and were rendered unusable from simply being exposed to cold temps during shipment by rail from the Ford Michigan plant to dealers.

"It should be illegal to make tires this bad. There is NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THESE TIRES. They are in my opinion actually quite dangerous, terrible traction, and if it starts raining park the car immediately. Just Junk!!! REmove ASAP"

"What a pile of crap. Horrible tire for the money and absolutely no traction even when up to temp. What was GoodYear thinking when they designed this tire? Came stock on my 2012 300 SRT8 and cannot get them off fast enough. I've driven on Chinese tires for under $100 that performed better than these so called "Ultra High Performance" tires. DO NOT BUY!!!"

"Terrible Tires that came originally with the car. Stay away if you value your life in wet weather. The tires also wear down within 20,000 miles in normal driving."

trying to do the same on my skylark but im having trouble finding supersports in some sizes :/

Click to expand...

Better read the threads on the PSS death wobble which Michelin will not even allow to be posted on their own site. I am suspicious they are doing a redesign because so many PSS sizes are no longer in production.

Better read the threads on the PSS death wobble which Michelin will not even allow to be posted on their own site. I am suspicious they are doing a redesign because so many PSS sizes are no longer in production.

It is just for show so it has reproduction G60 15 Goodyear Polyglass tires. Those are expensive antiquated tires made just like the factory originals. If you ever drove on a set, you would think something is wrong with your suspension.

If I were doing a car like yours I would be looking at the Toyo R888 tires like I ran on a 64 Sport Fury or the new Nitto 555 G2s.

I recently replaced the wheel/tire package on my 72 Skylark, so I know exactly the thought process you are going through.
I chose a 17x8 wheel for all 4 corners to keep things simple. US Mags Bandit because it is reminiscent of Buick Rallye wheels.
For tires, I wanted to match the original wheel/tire diameter as closely as possible for both visual reasons and speedometer accuracy.
Researching tire sizes, I found that matching the stock diameter was trickier than expected, and there were not as many choices in a good tire as I hoped.
I ended up selecting BF Goodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2 tires from BF Goodrich in the 235/55R17 size. They look much better than the 205/70R14 tires that the car came with, without looking odd or oversized for an old car. Performance-wise, they are a very nice tire so far, but I've had good luck with BFG in the past on other cars, especially my SVT Focus.

I'm not planning on a super radical Pro Touring build, but the overall plan includes front disc brake conversion, a suspension kit, upgrading from the 3 speed manual to either a 4 speed Muncie or possibly a 5 speed (why not dream big?).
Current configuration has a 4 barrel Edelbrock, a floor shift conversion for the 3 speed Saginaw, TA Stage 1 intake and 2.5" dual exhaust. Lots more work to do, but having fun the whole way!

Hello! I am new to the forum and loving every minute of it!! But need some help! i have a 72 skylark 350 4bbl i recently purchased. Extremely clean car with only 83,000 original miles. My plan is the take this car into the pro touring direction. Im installing a CPP Stage 4 pro touring kit in the upcoming weeks. Im starting this thread because im having trouble deciding what tire and rim sizes i should go. I like the American Racing VNCL Classic Torq Thrust 2 in mag grey. I need at least a 17 inch wheel to clear the 13inch rotors in the front and 12's in the back. For tires I like the Michelin Super sports as well as the GoodYear Eagle F1's. Im looking to get the best possible performance i can BUT i also really want that mean staggered look. What are your thoughts? Also what offset/backspacing will i need?

Also, For my rear end i know i have a 10 bolt 8 1/2 28 spline peg leg. What should i do to improve its performance and get rid of that peg leg? New third member and axles? any suggestions?

Thanks

Click to expand...

I used a Powertrax 1920-LR for in my rear end. I have a few hundred miles on it. It took a little time to get used to the clicking in tight corners but it doesn't bother me anymore.